International Journal of Child Computer Interaction This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Makerspace in school—Considerations from a large-scale national testbed
Publication date: June 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, Volume 16Author(s): Eva Eriksson, Carl Heath, Peter Ljungstrand, Peter ParnesAbstractDigital fabrication and making has received a growing interest in formal and informal learning environments. However, many of these initiatives often start from a grassroots perspective, with little coordination on a national level. This paper illustrates and discusses a study from an ongoing large-scale national testbed in Sweden named Makerspace in schools (Makerskola). The project embodies a series of considerations that arise when a maker approach i...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Future designers: Introducing creativity, design thinking & design to children
Publication date: June 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, Volume 16Author(s): Dimitris Grammenos, Margherita AntonaAbstract‘Future Designers’ is an interactive and participative crash course that aims to introduce to children the concepts and practice of creativity, design, and design thinking. The course targets multiple learning styles and intelligences, combining various learning approaches and tools, including lecturing (using a variety of media such as images, videos and music), creative question & answer, constructive – personal and collaborative – hands-on activities, play, humo...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Problem-based science, a constructionist approach to science literacy in middle school
Publication date: June 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, Volume 16Author(s): Christa FloresAbstractThis paper describes a four-year observation using a model designed and tested in a middle school maker space, called problem-based science (PbS). PbS was used as the primary model for a middle school science curriculum adapted by the tools and mindsets of the maker movement. PbS is learning through inventing and problem solving — while using the latest in fabrication technology, like 3D printers and laser cutters, as well as more traditional making skills, like electronics, robotics, sewing a...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Prototyping a designerly learning through authentic making activities in elementary classrooms
Publication date: June 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, Volume 16Author(s): Pauline Gourlet, Françoise DecortisAbstractDuring six months in a French elementary classroom with pupils aged 6–7 years old, we have looked for ways to progressively transform an instructional classroom environment. Our aim was to develop a sustainable designerly learning through authentic making activities. In this article, we describe the history of this attempt along with our motivations, with an instrumental approach, i.e., through a description of the activities mediated by the artifacts we have prototyped w...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Playing Beowulf: Bridging computational thinking, arts and literature through game-making
We present a specific case – a game produced by two 14 years-old boys – within Playing Beowulf, a collaboration with the British library’s Young Researchers programme, in which students aged 13–14 from an inner-London (UK) school have developed games based on their own readings of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf during an after-school club. The game was produced using MissionMaker, a software (currently under development at UCL Knowledge Lab) that allows users to create and code their own first-person 3D games in a simple way, using pre-made 3D assets, such as rooms, props, characters and weapons and a simplified prog...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Rethinking children’s roles in Participatory Design: The child as a process designer
We report on a case study in which we co-designed workshops together with 60 children aged 6–10 and 8 youth workers. The case study – called ‘Making Things’ – relied on a combination of methods, including participant observations, interviews, sensitising packages and participatory mapping. The reflection on the case study shows how our play perspective provided us with a way of making sense of children’s interactions with each other, adults, objects and their context. Our reflections further point to the emergence of the role of the child as a ‘process designer’. This role entails the collaboration with ch...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Redefining the role of parents in young children’s online interactions. A value-sensitive design case study
Publication date: Available online 22 June 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer InteractionAuthor(s): Marije Nouwen, Bieke ZamanAbstractWhen holding parents responsible for the consequences of young children’s online interactions, we overlook design opportunities that support a meaningful role for parents in these interactions. This paper considers the perspectives on online risks and opportunities, as studied in parental mediation studies, and on the capabilities of young children to make sense of online environments, as proposed by post-modern notions of the child. The paper presents a case study of the ...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

From players to makers: An empirical examination of factors that affect creative game development
Publication date: Available online 27 June 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer InteractionAuthor(s): Michail N. Giannakos, Letizia JaccheriAbstractThe recent incremental growth of tangible and programming technologies has made it possible for teenagers to engage in creative game development activities. The aim of this work is to increase knowledge on the factors that characterize these activities and to increase understanding about what motivates young students to participate in such activities. In our empirical evaluation, a group of researchers and artists designed, implemented and evaluated workshop prog...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Robotics and computational thinking in primary school
Publication date: Available online 4 July 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer InteractionAuthor(s): Christina ChalmersAbstractThis paper reports on a research study that examined how Australian primary school teachers integrated robotics and coding in their classrooms and the perceived impact this had on students’ computational thinking skills. The study involved four primary school teachers, (Years 1-6) from four schools, introducing LEGO® WeDo® 2.0 robotics kits in their classrooms. The data collected from questionnaires, journal entries, and semi-structured interviews were analysed using computationa...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Can computational talent be detected? Predictive validity of the Computational Thinking Test
We report the predictive validity of the CTt, conducted at the beginning of the quarter, with respect to academic performance (Informatics, Mathematics, and Language) and learning analytics in a Code.org course collected at the end of the quarter. We also analyse the predictive validity of the CTt to early distinguish between ‘computational regular thinkers’ and ‘computational top thinkers’ (i.e., those who spontaneously accelerated from the ‘block-based’ programming environment of Code.org to the ‘text-based’ one of Khan Academy). Finally, we perform a case study over two of the students categorized as ‘...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

An exploration of graphical password authentication for children
Publication date: Available online 7 July 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer InteractionAuthor(s): Hala Assal, Ahsan Imran, Sonia ChiassonAbstractIn this paper, we explore graphical passwords as a child-friendly alternative for user authentication. We evaluate the usability of three variants of the PassTiles graphical password scheme for children, and explore the similarities and differences in performance and preferences between children and adults while using these schemes. Children were most successful at recalling passwords containing images of distinct objects. Both children and adults prefer graphica...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 10, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Can computational talent be detected? Predictive validity of the Computational Thinking Test
We report the predictive validity of the CTt, conducted at the beginning of the quarter, with respect to academic performance (Informatics, Mathematics, and Language) and learning analytics in a Code.org course collected at the end of the quarter. We also analyse the predictive validity of the CTt to early distinguish between ‘computational regular thinkers’ and ‘computational top thinkers’ (i.e., those who spontaneously accelerated from the ‘block-based’ programming environment of Code.org to the ‘text-based’ one of Khan Academy). Finally, we perform a case study over two of the students categorized as ‘...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 7, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

How do you feel about learning to code? Investigating the effect of children’s attitudes towards coding using eye-tracking
In this study, eye-tracking activity was used to measure children’s learning and activity indicators. The goal of the study is to utilize eye-tracking to understand children’s activity while they learn how to code and to investigate any potential association between children’s attitudes and their gaze. In this contribution, we designed an experiment with 44 children (between 8 and 17 years old) who participated in a full-day construction-based coding activity. We recorded their gaze while they were working and captured their attitudes in relation to their learning, excitement and intention. The results showed a signi...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 5, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research

Orchestrating experts’ assumptions and children’s values in the design of Virtual Heritage experiences
Publication date: Available online 19 February 2018Source: International Journal of Child-Computer InteractionAuthor(s): Marie-Monique Schaper, Maria Santos, Narcis ParesAbstractThe roles that children are allowed to play in the co-design of an interactive experience are strongly influenced and determined by the views of designers and other adult stakeholders on childhood, as well as by their expectations of children’s skills and cognitive capacities. In this paper, we contrast these assumptions in the design of a Virtual Heritage experience for guided school visits at an archaeological site. The goal of our study was to...
Source: International Journal of Child Computer Interaction - July 5, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research